First evaluation study of the Dutch Working Party on silicone breast implants (SBI) and the silicone-related symptom...

This cohort study evaluates the postoperative prevalence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in relation to symptoms related to the so-called silicone-related symptom complex (SRSC). A total of 63 women who underwent mastectomy followed by immediate breast reconstruction with a silicone implant (SBI) between Septembber 1990 and May 1995 at the University Hospital Rotterdam/Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, participated voluntarily in the study. Their sera were tested for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and at the same time they were screened for the prevalence of SRSC-related symptoms by questionnaire. All patients were also examined physically. Sixteen per cent of the women were ANA positive. There was no difference in SRSC expression between ANA-positive and ANA-negative women. The lack of difference in symptom expression between the ANA-positive and ANA-negative women and the rather low complaint percentage proves that if ANA positivity is related to the SRSC, we found no evidence that patients with a SBI with a positive ANA differed from the ANA-negative patients.